BULLPUP FORUM

I just noticed on the news on the Paris attacks, some police or military toting the FAMAS bullpup. I've never even heard of this rifle before this...had to Google it. That is one huge, long, ugly carry handle.

It's been around for decades now. They have gone through numerous revision changes. I guess they are pretty darn good rifles.

Yeah, once I googled it, I read the history on it. From what I read, it appears that it is going to be phased out, but I couldn't find out why...maybe just a matter of design age. My comment about the carry handle wasn't to say the weapon wasn't any good...just ugly. ;D

One of the things that makes it very unique is the operating system. It isn't gas operated. It is lever delayed blowback. So far as I know, the only gun still around that uses that system. Very effective though.

It's been around for decades now. They have gone through numerous revision changes. I guess they are pretty darn good rifles.

They are great rifles! and yes they are looking to phase them out but only because 1.France no longer has any weapons manufacturers so I imagine spare parts will become an issue. 2. The weapon was designed in the 60's so there are no rails and mounting of optics is difficult with the carry so high. An optic on the carry handle gives you a very high profile. 3. France no longer has any ammunition manufacturers either so France has to out source all its steel cased ammo.

I carried a FAMAS for 10 years in every climate imaginable and loved it! I carried the same one for most of that time and can't remember ever having an FTF!

Didn't a few make it into the country? I think they were imported by Century?

Yeah a few did. Something a little over 100 to 120 or so. Semi-auto and they called it the MAS .223. They came in 88 IIRC or earlier before the AWB and obviously very rare and when they do come up for sale. Very expensive. There's one for sale on GB right now. (They show up from time to time). Currently hasn't hit he reserve at $8,500. BIN at $13,000.

I'd love one. But not at those prices. It's funny, from my understanding. These didn't sell very well at all. Took years to get rid of. Kinda like when it seems like there is demand for certain things like different AUG barrels. But then Steyr only makes 200. And they take years to sell.

Here's an image of a flyer I pulled off the web. These things cost about what AUGs did back then. Course even though the AUG came in larger numbers, not massive numbers.(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i302/Master_Mold/famas_zpslnnc2p7m.jpg) (http://s75.photobucket.com/user/Master_Mold/media/famas_zpslnnc2p7m.jpg.html)

I may be wrong. But it's my understanding the French still use steel cased ammo for their rifles. They use the same 5.56 bullets everyone else does. But because of the violent action and overpressure concerns with brass ammo. They don't/can't use it.The gun would ripe the brass cases apart and cause function issues.

About a year ago. The French Defense Ministry announced they had selected several rifles to test for replacement. The HK 416, M4 pattern rifle. The Beretta ARX, Sig Sauer MCX, FN SCAR-L, and the HS Produkt VHS, VHS K2. The VHS looks a lot like the FAMAS. But operates completely differently. It will be at least another year, plus before France chooses a successor.

Not sure how many of you guys remember that none of the so called "black guns" sold well back in the 80s.

If it wasn't for the 89 ban a few of them might still be on the dealer's shelves! LOL

Plus they were priced in the $600 range, AUGs, HK 93s, 94s and so on.

The good old days!

;D

I remember those days fondly ;D. You could by open bolt semi auto UZI model A's. Open bolt Thompson's, open bolt Macs' ... heck all the open bolts were available to anyone who wanted one. You could by a IMI Galil for $800, I am talking about the fully loaded ARM version. The standard version was $600 like you mentioned. The market was flooded with great mid 80's guns. The only rifles that were expensive back then were the FN produced FAL's. They still cost a pretty penny (+$2000), but the HK line up was under $1000. Street sweepers were $400 and they weren't considered "destructive devices". They even had a 6 in barrel pump street sweeper pistol with drum mag... The thing was a BEAST!!!

OK, let me set the record straight. The FAMAS will shoot any type of .223/556 ammo that your AR-15,Tavor,etc. will; brass or steel case, and it will do it reliably. Myth number two that I have heard and would like to make a contribution to dispel is: "the FAMAS can't mount optics". It can. I'm an old time long time collector and shooter; the FAMAS is the best handling,most maneuverable light weight and naturally pointable bullpup there is. It's a shame it's so rare and so many misconceptions have form because of it. I have own a few over the years and enjoyed shooting them often,but since they have become so crazy expensive, my last one is now just a looker because I fear marring or nicking the finish on an unfired rare gun.

Since I finally signed up here I wanted to comment on this thread that a coworker of mine was in the French military and swore that the FAMAS was the most accurate and dependable of military rifles in the world. At the time I chalked it up to national pride, but this thread makes me think he wasn't totally off.

I can verify from combat (working with French Foreign Legion) that they run on any type of ammo. Not sure where the steal case rumor come from. We ran lots of NATO ammo through them. French FL guys let us handle them. The cyclic rate was unbelievable 1200+ rpm. And was actually controllable at that rate of fire. An M249 SAW cyclic rate is around 700-800 rpm. Would have loved to have a surefire 60 or 100 rounders and the FAMAS. We only had 30 round GI mags, Canadian polymer Promags, and a few Air force guys bought their own 100 round double drum mags but they never made it more than 40 rounds without jamming. (The double drum sucks not the FAMAS)

FAMAS definitely makes my top 5 coolest guns I've ever fired. Never got to shoot it beyond 75 meters so no quantitative accuracy results. But it will rip through a 30 round mag in less than a second and a half and keep them all center mass at 25 meters doing so. Nothing like it in a sub ten pound platform. You could cut someone in half or cut trees down with it. It's sound is very distinct as well.

Passed up on a SIG 550 and FAMAS in the late 80's were like $1000 each at the time with sling, bayonet, and extra magazine. What the heck was I thinking....

Title: Re: FAMAS bullpup
Post by: racky on May 20, 2016, 11:53:36 PM

broncs said that france no longer has any gun or ammo manufactures ?????. if that's true, it would explain the fama's bipod" surrender sticks"----- SGT P played a video a few years back about a hippie singing about the FAMAS, it was hilarious, maybe he'll re-post it ????? BTW, I read that france was seriously considering the THALES F90, to replace the famas, this was stated by the austrialian gun manufacturer that is making the THALES F90 (a variant of the styer aug). I just found the video its in the general discussion forum area and its titled "funny bullpup video", I'de bring it up , but I don't know how to get the computer to do that.

Yeah... think I would rather spend the money on a fully loaded Barrett M107 before I throw 20K at the Famas.

At that price you are into the fully transferable machine gun market. Which is also investment grade collection guns. I would go there before the Barrett personally. But I've shot one a bunch. It is fun but you are limited on where you can actually shoot it.

Since I finally signed up here I wanted to comment on this thread that a coworker of mine was in the French military and swore that the FAMAS was the most accurate and dependable of military rifles in the world. At the time I chalked it up to national pride, but this thread makes me think he wasn't totally off.

My guess is, you were right, mostly. Or I was a crap shot. Or both. I remember the trigger sucked though. Waiting... waiting... Hearing some spring noise... Waiting some more. Bang!

Three round bursts, well, felt hard to control. Never was allowed to fire full auto (being a conscript scrub), but I guess you'd need to be pretty well trained to have any kind of control.

'Surrender sticks' were flimsy. I guess, they worked OK, firing prone. Not really getting in the way otherwise, you'd think they would hang on to all sorts of things, but never really noticed that.

Ergonomics kinda sucked (rotary fire selector way at the back). I guess you're suppose to keep it at a particular setting. Especially for conscripts. Put it in full auto accidentally, and you'd get a major bollocking. Although we were given at most three bullets, never full mags.

No bolt hold open, but felt OK to hold, aim, and point. Safety lever, ... meh. I guess it was a way to have the scrubs keep their fingers away from the trigger. My guess is, a lot of the ergonomics are very safety conscious. Given than a huge range of idiot-types would have to do their military service, handling one of those, which are small and unimpressive at first (almost toy-like). Kind of a problem when you have professionals that rely on the same weapon and have other priorities. Hence why they tend to get 'updated' versions, nowadays.

Floating barrel though. And very simple internally. Just a few large components really. The entire fire control system is housed at the rear of the butt in a sealed plastic device. And from what I've seen, it's pretty complex inside. But when it brakes, just chuck the entire thing out, and get another one.

Ambidextrous... Well ok, but not recommended. I was asked to shoot right-handed, even though I'm left handed. Swapping the ejector around was a bit of a pain. I guess not something you'd do in the field.

Aperture sights, one large, one small, or none (basically, 'very large'). No adjustments as far as I remember.

Felt pretty heavy at the time, but I was all skin and bones at the time of my military service.

I'm not really an authority on weapons, and couldn't compare to anything else really. Only thing I fired were shotguns and small 22LR carbines. But I liked it in general. Ours were pretty beat up though. The carry handle was loose, metal tarnished, but hey, they worked.

IMO, Over-engineered, with quirky characteristics. Kinda 70's 'futuristic', like the Aug (which imo, is a better overall approach to bullpup). Exactly what I expected from our glorious military.

Lots of unique features (delayed blowback, rifle grenades, ambidextrous, bullpup, lots of 'polymers', three-point sling, foldable bipod, three-round burst, crazy ROF). But I guess, once they got round to actually using the same ammo as everyone else, not a bad system.

I like firing it, carrying it. Best thing that I did during my miserable military service.

Just doing some vacation time in Paris - military here obviously love this rifle still. The squad I saw were sporting maroon berets and they looked like true badasses. Each of their rifles apeared to be custom built and accessorized, including rattle-can paint. I saw most with older Eotech sights and a few with the bulky looking iron handle sight. I would have snapped a picture but was too intimidated...